We got our new tent yesterday! After some googling, and a visit to our local BCF we thought that this one suited our needs (family of 5, station wagon only for our gear) and all important - the budget. We got an Oztrail Retreat 9.

I am absolutely dying to set it up!!! We hope to be able to do it this weekend, but I think our chances are buckleys and none with the weather. I know we need the rain, but hey we've got a new toy here!

I'm thinking if we get it done in under an hour we'll be doing well given we'll have 3 helpers (2yo, 4yo, 12yo) and the dog. The instructions sound really easy and I think I'll get the poles, etc out tomorrow so I know what is what beforehand. Secretly i'm hoping for around 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour. Or am I being too ambitious for the first run?

And I think we'll have a camp out in the backyard too for the night. May as well try it out while it is set up hey.

Anyway, I'll report back on how we go and what we think of the tent, etc.

Probably not relevant with modern domes nowadays.The first tent I ever had was a canvas cabin type, the poles weren't captured like you would have, but what I done as I took it apart the first time I got a nikko texta and numbered the poles and which sleeve they went in.Any way best of luck and hoping you see some nice weather on the weekend.

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. Joseph Stalin

First of all I dragged out the bits and pieces in the lounge room to make sure all was there. At first I thought I was missing a tent pole, but after a quick call to the tent store from where it was purchased they reassured me that a missing pole was a one in a million kind of thing and it was probably more likely that the product description and translation of the instructions were wrong and he suggested to go ahead and set it up and then see if we were missing anything. I was very impressed with the phone support I received - and guess what - NO missing pole!

(Re the instructions - not the best. I even downloaded the current version from the Oztrail website for our tent and they differed somewhat from the printed version that came with the tent. Both for parts and what to do. And even as far as incorrectly stating which pole to use! So they were not that helpful for ppl new to setting up tents. But we did it!)

All in an it took us an hour to set it up! Which we thought was good considering the dodgey instructions (in parts). And, hubby and I only got cross at each other a few times

We are pretty impressed with the tent - ok, admittedly it is our first and we have nothing to compare it too, but we can see that it should serve us well. A good size - 3 rooms (one for us, one for the kids, and a central living room). I'm going to measure up exactly how much landspace it uses and work out inside what would be the best sized air mattresses for the kids (all singles or a double and single).

Anyway, the kids went nuts when they were finally allowed in there (running around and carrying on!) and we ate dinner in there and all had a greats night sleep! And we're gonna do it all again tonight

Sounds Good. The oztrail tents are pretty good so you will get good use of it.

On air matresses they are a good start, but I'd have a look at some of the stetcher beds. More expensive and take up more room but more comfortable (if you buy the right one of course). The problem with air beds, they lose air and you will find yourslef pumping up during the night, and they can be cold as you will be lying on air (this can be overcome by having a good thickness of blankets underneath.

You did well to get it up in less than an hour on your first go.

Never argue with a fool! They drag you down to their level, and beat you with experience!

Well done Mrs Bravo and I tried the air matresses on a stretcher type and found they were very cold and noisy with the materials rubbing. We have gone to self inflating matresses with a sleeping bag and they are very comfortable. We got singles as they are much easier to roll up, can be put together if you want. Only difficulty is in the old bones getting up in the morning from the ground

Sounds like fun, I'd recommend when you pack-away to make a mental note of how it was folded before you took it out of the bag, at least whilst there are still some obvious creases in it you stand half a chance of getting it back in the bag.

We have a very large and sturdy canvas cabin tent with heaps of poles, all of which have the pole number stamped on them which is handy. Given the number of poles involved though I made a number of copies of the setup instructions as I would hate to try and put it up without them. So in various locations I have stored copies for safe keeping.

As for sleeping, our kids are happy in sleeping bags and the plain foam sleep mats. We have a huge double swag with high density foam mattress which we find very comfortable for mum and dad.

As for the new tent the hardest part is getting it back in the bag, once you have that mastered you are laughing.

I hope you and your family create many happy memories together in the new tent, I wish more parents would find the time to spend that sort of quality time with their kids.

[quote ="Blue Bravo"]Well done :+ We have gone to self inflating matresses with a sleeping bag and they are very comfortable. We got singles as they are much easier to roll up, can be put together if you want.

I would definitely agree with this, self inflaters are the way to go and as BB said, go for 2 singles rather than a double for you and hubby. You can still put them together and they are definitely much easier to roll up than a double. I would also go for the thicker ones, the 10cm ones. I have 2 of these both are Oztrail and they are brilliant.

I actually have a king single and a queen so please believe me when I say the single is much easier to roll up.

For the kids I would still go for self inflater but there are cheaper ones about which will serve them well enough. I have one from Aldi which I paid about $15 for and I loaned it to a 15 year old at xmas time to use and she had no complaints about it at all. She slept on it on the ground so I figured that was recommendation enough for me that it was a suitable enough application for the kids.

Thanks heaps for the advice regarding what to sleep on. I think at the moment we'll just go with the cheaper option and go with an air mattress and maybe upgrade at a later date.

And guess what.....I think we have achieved a camping first - our tent fitted back into the bag it came in (and some room to spare!) The tent rolled up around the pole bag which really pushed out all the air and made it nice and compact. One less stress for us come camping time hey. YIPPPEEEE!!!!

Totally agree with you ScottyB regarding spending quality times with your kids - life's too short, they grow up too darn quick and we are really looking forward to getting away from life's little distractions (TV, DVD, XBOX, Mobile phones, etc,etc,etc) and having some fun with our kids. And for them to be able to have fun with us!

No_Eyed_Deer wrote:Thanks heaps for the advice regarding what to sleep on. I think at the moment we'll just go with the cheaper option and go with an air mattress and maybe upgrade at a later date.

And guess what.....I think we have achieved a camping first - our tent fitted back into the bag it came in (and some room to spare!) The tent rolled up around the pole bag which really pushed out all the air and made it nice and compact. One less stress for us come camping time hey. YIPPPEEEE!!!! :armsup

Totally agree with you ScottyB regarding spending quality times with your kids - life's too short, they grow up too darn quick and we are really looking forward to getting away from life's little distractions (TV, DVD, XBOX, Mobile phones, etc,etc,etc) and having some fun with our kids. And for them to be able to have fun with us!

No_Eyed_Deer wrote:Totally agree with you ScottyB regarding spending quality times with your kids - life's too short, they grow up too darn quick and we are really looking forward to getting away from life's little distractions (TV, DVD, XBOX, Mobile phones, etc,etc,etc) and having some fun with our kids. And for them to be able to have fun with us!

Bring on the camping!

When our boys were about 4 we went to the gold coast and stayed in a unit for a week, before then my wife didn't really want to do too much camping. But in that week we couldn't drag the kids away from the tv.We couldn't even get them into a indoor heated pool. Then came the realization that if we weren't careful our holidays would be the same as staying home only the view would have changed. Now when we are at a park that has a camp kitchen the kids only ask to watch the Simpson's if its on.

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. Joseph Stalin